Ghost Hunt: House of Monsters
by EternallyDrowning
Summary: The Shibuya group takes on a haunted castle, but with people dying, an unstopable moster lurking around, psychic rivals, deadly hauntings, and no way to leave the small island, will they even survive? And what is their client hiding? Could it cost lives?
1. Day 1

Ghost Hunt: House of Monsters

In the Beginning

Lighting flashed.

"Why?" cracked the young boy's voice. His face was soaked in wet salty tears. "Mother…?" his raw voice croaked. His terrified eyes were locked on her figure lying in the middle of the floor. All of that blood couldn't have come from one body… perhaps his tears had run together with a small amount of blood and turned red? He didn't know. All he knew was he was standing and his mother was on the floor, blood pooling from a wound he couldn't see.

Another flash of lightning lit up her cold, pale, frozen in horror, face. Her soft autumn hair fell in tresses around her head before being dyed red from her own crimson liquid.

Blood.

Why was there so much blood?

His childish form began to shake, was he even breathing? He looked in to her dead honey eyes.

Dead.

_Dead._

Mother…

_She was…_

His mouth burst open unleashing a terrified scream.

"Father! Father! Mother…she…she's…" he wailed bursting through the Study's doors to the dark hallway.

Where are you?

_Anyone?_

Father?

_Don't leave me alone!_

Halls, doors, rooms, this place was never ending. There! Father's library was at the far corridor ahead of him. A new hope burst from somewhere within him. Father! He would be there. He always was! He'd tell me him that this is all just a bad nightmare, that everything was going to be okay.

His short legs moved faster than possible at this new hope.

Why?

_It's so far away!_

Why?

_It feels like I'm not moving!_

Move.

_Move!_

Father!

His form slammed chest first into the room's hard olive wood door. He fumbled with the glass doorknob until he heard it click open.

His lungs took in large gasps.

_Calm down!_

It's going to be all right now.

He bit down on his lip causing a small trickle of liquid to drip. Sure the salt from his tears stung horribly, but he was calming down. His breathing was deeper than normal, but at least his heart had slowed down at least a little.

Taking one last deep breath he burst through the door.

* * *

"Father!"

This isn't real.

_Thu-thump_

It's…this is…just a dream.

_Thu-thump_

It's just a bad dream!

_Thu-thump, Thu-thump_

A nightmare! It's just horrible nightmare!

_Thu-thump, Thu-thump, Thu-thump_

This is…

_Thu-thump, Thu-thump, Thu-thump, Thu-thump, Thu-thump, Thu-thump, Thu-thump_

"F…a…ther…" he breathed.

Another flash of light burst through the large window revealing the hanging corpse. All of its limbs were torn off.

"This…can't be happening." he cried backing up to get as far from the gruesome scene as possible. His hot, clammy hands met the cold stone wall. His legs gave way and he fell to his knees. Such trivial things don't matter, not the cold stone sliding up his back, nor the fact that his hands were covering his ears. Scared eyes stared at the gray marble floor.

Something caught the corner of his vision, something that shouldn't be there. What was it? He slowly shifted his eyes to get a better look.

This isn't…

Focus came to his mind and his eyes widened with realization and terror. Sick. He felt sick.

He vomited.

"This can't be happening." He whimpered. Try as he might, he couldn't tear his gaze away from the object.

An arm.

His father's severed arm.

He slammed his eyes shut and snapped his head back to the direction of the floor.

"This is just a really bad dream!" he yelled out to no one. Maybe if he spoke it out loud he would be able to convince this dream to change. His hands clenched his ears tighter.

This isn't real.

_I don't want to di_e.

Father!

_When will it end?_

Mother!

_Please…_

I'm so scared.

_Let me wake up._

I don't want to be alone.

_Wake up!_

Anyone!

_I don't want to die._

This isn't happening.

_Wake up!_

I don't wan to die.

_I don't want to die._

The door creaked open.

_I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die._

Please, don't let me die.

_Drip!_

A horrible smell filled the air.

His eyes snapped open.

Slowly he looked up.

A silhouette stood ten feet away from him. His head was down and his long dark bangs covered his face. His arms were at his sides. This man was…

"Brother!" the young boy gasped with relief. He started running toward his only remaining family left in this terrifying dream. He knew it was wrong, but he felt happy, or maybe what he thought as happy was just an incredibly high level of relief.

"Brother, I was so scared!" he cried as he was about to jump into his older brother's arms.

"I'm so glad you're ali-" Blood sprayed out in the distance between them.

Blood?

Was brother hurt?

No.

It was me.

I'm…

Unbearable pain swept through his entire body. He stared down at his chest in disbelief.

A dagger?

"B…brother?" he asked horrified.

This is just a dream.

_Wake up!_

He stumbled and tried to run away from the newest edition to his worst nightmare.

_Please, I want to wake up._

If only he could see his brothers face. See the warm understanding baby blues he envied so much. That wish was left empty, hidden by the shadows.

_I really want to wake up._

He tripped over his almost useless legs. It was useless. He could no longer run. Slowly, his consciousness started to slip away and his vision became hazy. He used to last of his strength to stand and face his brother.

"Brother, my brother. Why?" was all he could mumble as he stared at his figure. The unknown brother started making his way to his traumatized sibling.

He gasped.

Why didn't he see it before?

In the right hand of the deranged man was a blood stained dagger, while in the left…his father's other severed arm.

"You…you killed them!" he wailed in realization.

The man just smirked and got closer to his brother.

"Why? Brother?" he demanded now that his enemy was right in front of him. The man lifted his head to reveal two solid black eyes. The child screamed out once again from absolute terror.

"Sorry." the man said. The arm holding the dagger slashed the boy through his shoulder and sliced its way though his stomach. "Brother isn't at home right now."

He gave one last blood curling scream.

It hurts so much.

_Please, wake up!_

This isn't real.

_Blood, stop pouring._

I don't want to die.

_I don't want to die._

Please…

_It hurts so much._

Mother!

_Please…  
_

Father!

_Anyone!_

Please…

His mind went blank and he fell to the ground.

Why won't I…

_Thu-thump, Thu-thump, Thu-thump_

His breathing became shallower and he gave one last look to his brother.

Black eyes.

This man had no soul.

A face covered in blood. A demonic smile plastered to that wretched face. He watched in disgust and horror as the man put the arm to his lips…and tore away the flesh before swallowing.

Everything's blurry.

_Thu-thump, Thu-thump_

My pain is gone.

I feel numb.

_Thu-thump_

What is all this liquid?

Is it blood?

_Thu-thump_

Yes.

My blood.

I'm going to die.

_Thu-thump_

Why won't I…

Please…

The light started to fade from his eyes and his body turned cold.

Why can't I…

WAKE UP!

_Thump_

Silence.

* * *

The black eyed man finished gnawing on the bones and tossed the clean eaten ones to the big pile with the rest.

A demonic laugh filled the empty walls of the castle.

Black eyes scanned what was left of the bodies.

A mocking grin smeared his lips.

"Don't worry little boy…" he sang in a haunting voice. "You'll always be together for eternity…" His grin grew even bigger.

"In Hell."

* * *

**Day 1**

"Mai! Be careful with that TV monitor!" the hansom, dark haired young teenager barked.

"Of course I'm careful…you meanie." I snapped back, mumbling the last part to myself. That man can be so mean sometimes! He doesn't even appreciate the fact that I'm the only one actually helping him with all of the heavy stuff! I stop my struggled walking/carrying of the insanely heavy TV to look at his back as he walks away. I stick my tongue out at him. Childish, yes, but affective…for me at least.

Let me explain.

My name is Taniyama, Mai. I'm a first year high school student with a rather unusual part time job. I work as an assistant ghost hunter for Shibuya Psychic Research.

"Lin, were you able to get any information on blueprints?" he asked.

The hansom man in black would be Shibuya, Kazuya…but I call him Naru because he's a narcissist. Even though he's only seventeen, he's my superior at work. In fact, he's the president of Shibuya Psychic Research.

"No, there were no such papers documented, all there is, is a rough outline of the outside." replied the dark haired man sitting at the computer screen.

This is Lin-san. He doesn't talk a lot and usually keeps to himself. He's Naru's assistant, and what people call a Diviner. I find him a little scary, and we usually don't make much contact or conversation with each other.

"It can't be helped. Mai, you'll be making the blueprints when John, Hara-san, Ayako-san, and Bou-san get here. They'll be arriving tomorrow."

"What? Fine, then. What are you going to be doing Naru? It's a little obvious who's who when only one person isn't working the-woah!" I stumbled and started to fall. Oh no! This is bad!

"Are you alright, Taniyama-san?" came the voice of my rescuer.

"Uh, yes. Thank you, Yasuhara-san. I'm steady now." He had caught my back before I fell too far. Luckily I was still able to maintain the TV monitor in my arms. He smiled at me and let go. After he adjusted his glasses he went back over to our supplies to grab a video camera and started to set it up.

Osamu, Yasuhara is the one who saved my fall. When we first met him he was the Student Council President of Ryokuryou High School. He has since then graduated and sometimes helps out in our investigations. He is very useful when Naru needs to hide his identity form the press and public.

I finished my long treacherous walk over to the counter and put down the heavy monitor. Really, Naru always says I'm such a klutz, so why does he always make _me_ carry the big heavy stuff? Wait, never mind, it's Naru. What other explanation do I need? He's just a big mean narcissist that overworks his assistants, and treats his friends like workers…okay, we are his workers, but still. Why did he have to be such a mean jerk, with such a rotten personality, bad sense of clothes, hansom face, mysterious eyes, perfect…WAIT! What am I thinking! This is Naru I'm talking about! Then again, one of the reasons I work here is to see him. So, all of the bad things that go with it are definitely worth it.

"Mai, hurry up and finish setting up so you can sort out the paperwork from yesterday that you didn't finish. I don't pay you to stand there and do nothing. Get to work. Oh, and make me some tea while your at it." he barked.

It's not worth it.

* * *

**End of Chapter**

* * *

_So, what do you think of my Ghost Hunt story? It really is quite sad that there's not more fan-fictions of this anime. It's amazing._

_Read and review!_

_If you don't review than fear my almighty Kitty Powers nya!_


	2. Day 2

_Oh my gosh, thank you all for commenting. That's so nice!_

_I'd like to give my thanks to:_

_Otaku Nayami- _sniffs_ You're nice to comments but _sniffs_ why aren't you afraid of my Kitty Powers? I thought I was scary! _giggles_ Don't worry, I'm just messing with ya. _smiles evilly

_Alyson Metallium- Indeed, this band of misfits is in for a very surprising and terrifyingly unfortunate case. MUHAHAHAHAH-! _huge fit of coughing! Me: grabs random inhaler…wheeze wheeze wheeze…all better_ MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! _(No offence to people with asthma)

_Aufera- I like my introduction too! Yays me! _(Caution: I have bad spelling and no grammar skills. You have been warned) _Owoooo!!!_ dude, it's ghostly sounds, say it with me…_Owoooo! _... You know you wanna Come on. Do it! Ha! I knew it! Some of you did it! Now do it again. _Owoooo! It's so fun! OWOOOO! _giggles insanely…_readers: _backing away

_MimoriFanForever_- _Yay! I updated! I finally got off of my lazy butt and updated! _unseenchoir starts singing the Hallelujah song Me: Wooow! Really bright spot light turns on.Me: I'm BLIND!!! Nooos!_ (nos as in plural no…_gasps_ I just did grammar! The sky is falling! We're all going to die! _Me: Hides under bed_ My Grammar Teacher: … shock)_

_sara_- _You can actually read it? Yays!_ jumps up and down _That means I can actually spell… somewhat… Aren't you glad I enabled that anonymous thingy-majig-a-boben?_ grabs a dictionary _thingy-majig-a-boben definition:_ an unknown or indescribable thing that has a majig and bobens. _Yeah, I just made that all up, but it sounds like it could be from a dictionary right? Say right?_ …chirp chirp _NO ONE SAID RIGHT! How mean. Oh well, I will make that word in the dictionary someday._ grabs marker and scribbles word and made up definition into dictionary _There, now it's in the dictionary! Anyone else dare to defy my messed up logic?_

_I DO NOT OWN GHOST HUNT, AND IF I DID THEN KITTENS WOULD RULE THE WORLD!_

* * *

"Please take a seat everyone." requested a young, brown haired man standing at the head of the long table. 

I took a seat in between my blonde friend sitting at the end of the table, and my older friend with light brown hair.

The blonde haired man is John Brown, who originally hails from Australia. He doesn't look like it, but he's actually older than Naru at twenty years of age. He is what most people recognize as an exorcist.

Over to my left is Takigawa, Houshou, a part time monk from Mt. Kouya. He's also a musician, and once you get to know him he's a lot like an older brother character than a serious adult. Usually we just call him Bou-san, and he seems to like the name.

Next to him is Matsuzaki, Ayako, a self proclaimed miko. She may not look like it, but she is actually quite skilled when it comes to using protection/warding spells and summoning the help of earth-based spirits. I learned of that skill from our last case. She's truly amazing.

Going down the line of seats at the table sits Hara, Masako, a spirit channeler, also known as a medium. She's quite famous and has been on television a lot, but she is actually a jealous Naru stealer. (In my opinion) But I must admit, she is very skilled at what she can do. Of course I would never tell her that.

After her sits Lin-san, Naru, and then Yasuhara-san, and some people that I don't know. In fact, there are a lot of people here I don't know.

-

"I am pretty sure all of you guests have been informed of the situation here. Please let it be known that the ship has left and won't be back until the end of the month. We have prepared rooms for all of you in the west wing, so please, make yourselves at home and get used to the layout here at the castle. Your services are greatly appreciated, and you will be paid for your time and effort." said the young man with brown hair.

_'If we survive is what he forgot to mention'_ I thought for the heck of it.

This man's name is Kuroski, Takashi. He came to us asking for our help...

**Two Weeks Ago**

_I just walked through the door and hung up my coat when… _

"_Mai, tea." Naru demanded from behind the closed office door. I growled, then put on a fake smile because it was business._

"_Coming!" I said with fake cheeriness. I slugged off to the oh-so-familiar cupboard where the tea box was found._

"_So you say that this castle has been giving you trouble, and there is no way to ignore it?" Naru asked. _

'Oh, someone is here, I better grab another cup then'_ I thought._

_"Yes-" the client started, but was cut off when I entered the room with my freshly prepared tea._

_"Excuse me for interrupting." I say trying to pardon myself for my rudeness as I handed out the beverages._

_"It's alright little girl, no harm was done." he said smoothly taking a cup and setting it on the table before him._

'Little girl? I'm in high school thank you very much' _my eye was twitching, hope he didn't notice._

_"This is my assistant, Taniyama, Mai." Naru introduced. "Mai, this is Kuroski, Takashi, our newest client." _

_"Please, you can call me Takashi." I nodded and shook the man's hand politely before handing Naru his tea, and then I took a sea in the chair next to Naru. I looked around hoping to find Lin-san. It was useless, for he was out doing informational work until later this afternoon._

_"I am the president of a medical research center and I have recently purchased a small private island called Riverfell. This island grows a special flower that is capable of suppressing and limiting the effects of cancer." he started._

_I couldn't help but gasp. This man was very important, but not only that, he had found such an amazing breakthrough. Naru merely nodded and signaled for the man to continue._

"_This certain flower is called a Ribiscuit Lily, and it only grows on this island because of its location and climate. Naturally I have had people go to the island to harvest and take care of them, but it seems they only grow next to this abandoned castle. _

"_Being a rather large building, I had the employees live in there during the weeks that they worked. At first it was no big deal, but my workers have been disappearing and a few have lost limbs and lives due to freak accidents involving the building. About eight days ago, one of my assistants, Ana Rorvick, a religious American under my apprenticeship, heard a child screaming from within the castle during work hours, and went in to investigate, but when she came out she was ranting about demons plaguing the island, and she left immediately. Since then, I have lost the help of many of my workers who are too afraid to go to the island because of the building. People have seen things, heard things, and many occult signs have been painted and carved throughout the castle. There is no where else for the workers to stay, and because the ship only returns to the island once a month, they have no choice but to stay there. I know this is very dangerous, but please, for the sake of science, please accept this case. I beg of you!" he pleaded bowing his head deeply._

_I turned my gaze to Naru. He had a very strange look in his eyes. It was almost scary how deep in thought he was. It was the type of look he had during the case involving the Prime Minister's mansion. I shuddered at the very memory of that place._

_Naru looked at our brown haired client._

_"We accept."_

* * *

So here we are. 

-

"Since this is such a big building, and there is so much to do and so much danger around it, I have asked for the assistance of many psychics and ghost hunters. I shall now introduce you all." the brown haired Kuroski, Takashi proclaimed.

He waved his hand toward a group of five males that were sitting at the other end of the table furthest away from us.

"This is Daniel Mavis with Ghost Hunt Incorporated." The red haired man in the center of the group nodded his head showing he was Daniel Mavis.

'_What a pretty hair color'_ I gasped. Okay, I'll admit, I was jealous, but red could be too much sometimes, he most likely dyed it. Yes, I am trying to make his hair seem less pretty to my dull averagely plain hair. Why did he get such gorgeous hair? He's a guy!

"Miyoko, Ichigo and her assistant Kurosaki, Monori." he continued, pointing his hand to an older woman in her sixties and a young girl that was around Masako's age.

"Priestess Naomi" a young beautiful woman kindly smiled as she nodded.

"Monk Hiro…" a middle aged man raised his hand slightly.

"and Shibuya Psychic Research lead by Shibuya, Kazuya." he finished. Yasuhara smiled politely trying to trick everyone to believe he was indeed Shibuya's president. It was working.

Everyone sat there in silence for a small while trying to remember everyone's names and groups, and possibly who could be considered a real psychic or not. Most likely everyone would pass over a group full of teenagers and two young adults when…

"It can't be! You're Hara, Masako, aren't you? Why is someone as famous as you here?" burst out one of the members of Daniel Mavis's group. Murmurs, whispers, and gasps quickly made their way through the guests and soon filled the castle's once quiet lobby.

"Really? You're really that famous medium from television?" asked Monori in both disbelief and excitement. Obviously she was a Masako fan.

"Yes, I am Hara, Masako. It is a pleasure to meet everyone, but really, as we are all here for business, is it really necessary for me to be so popular? Are we not all here to solve this case?" she answered in a very businesslike manner. The wild crowd immediately calmed down. Behold the great power of Masako.

My vein popped, and my eye twitched.

_'Jeez', making herself sound all good and businesslike even though she's actually just stating that she's famous and there, acting like such a good little girl' _I hissed in my head. Why does she act like such a perfect person? In actuality she's a jealous conniving brat.

My eye twitched even more.

If these people knew what Masako was really like then surely…

"Hara-san, do you sense any spirits here?" Daniel Mavis asked suddenly.

Masako was temporarily taken back by this sudden outburst, but soon she regained her proper elegant composure.

"I do not sense a presence, but it is more like the feeling that someone died here. I cannot tell if there is a spirit or not, either because it is hiding in this huge place, or because there is no spirits here. As of this moment I highly doubt that there are any spirits here." she announced calmly.

I was taken back, as was everyone else in our group.

Sure, Masako had had her times where she couldn't tell for sure if there were spirits or what kind of spirits they were, but never had she flat out said that there were no spirits around without properly looking around first.

"Masako…" Bou-san started, but didn't bother finishing. Masako was in one of her I'm-better-than-you moods. No one dared mess with her now. Well maybe Naru, but if he did, then I would have to say that he would be temporarily stupid.

I stole a quick glance at him. Why I bothered, I don't even know. Of course he just sat there being is normal stoic self. I gave a small sigh. This was going to be a very long case.

-

"Please forgive me, but there are no blueprints of this building yet, so I'm afraid I will have to leave it up to you to remember where to go. I would help if I could, but I too am new here and I would not count on my judgment to help you find your way around."

A few annoyed and angry looks were given to the poor young man, but he was obviously oblivious to them.

"I'm sure you all understand that this is a business, and you must all be prepared. It is not up to me to baby you all when it is your duty to take care of yourselves. I don't pay you to sit around and do nothing. If you don't like it then leave." he added.

_'He-he's just like Naru! What an amazingly high level of narcissism!' _I thought horrified.

Obviously I wasn't the only one who realized this matter, for all of our group was staring back and forth at Takashi and Naru, even Masako stole glimpses at the two…especially Naru. The perv.

Naru stayed the exact same. He saw no relation between him and their client. None at all.

'_Naru definitely wins first place in the narcissism area'_ I let my mind say, and nodded my head vigorously in approval.

Takashi smiled…wait, no, he smirked. How scary. What a scary, scary man! I slid a little closer to Bou-san to defend myself from the Naru-two's blinding rays of I'm-better-ness and you-work-for-me-get-over-it-I'm-boss-ness. Understanding the same thing, Bou-san gulped.

'_I thought one Naru was bad enough. How am I going to be able to live with two of them?' _I thought miserably as I tried to force my lips into a fake smile, but was failing miserably.

Ayako started to give a slight muffled giggle. I looked at her and smiled. There's just something about her that can make you feel better at times. Maybe it's because she's a narcissist, but fails at it miserably. Oh, there is good in this world after all!

"Since everyone is well informed about our situation, please head up to your rooms, your luggage has already been brought to your bedrooms, and I will have my assistants guide you there just this once." Takashi announced.

"We understand, thank you." Yasuhara commented.

Just as everyone was standing up to head over to the west wing where they would be staying, the most odd and amazing thing happened, a group of the most stunningly beautiful people in the history of the world walked by.

There were a total of six people, four guys and two girls. Each member of the group had a sword strapped to their back, some sort of armlet on the left arm of each person, and they all wore dark colored clothes. The males looked to have black sleeveless muscle shirts, one girl wore a spaghetti strapped tang-top and the other wore a strapless leather top that laced in the back with thick string and agreed with every asset she had. You couldn't call them slutty or skimpy, they were simply beautiful. They continued their graceful walking toward the grand staircase past the table when Takashi spoke up.

"Excuse me, but what group do you belong to, and who is your leader. I thought that everyone was here."

The creatures of beauty stopped and looked at him. I tried, but neither I, nor any of the other guests, could take our eyes off of them.

_'How beautiful, I've never seen anyone like them' _I managed to think out in complete awe. Sure, I would have loved to see how Naru looked at these god-like beings, but I myself, was too entranced to even look away for a second.

This strapless top wearer looked at Takashi, but then looked down to her side when she felt a slight tugging on her pant leg. Her face revealed a small, beautiful smile that made the whole world feel peaceful. She moved to the side just a little bit and knelt down to the eyelevel of the one before her.

_'Seven, there's seven of them'_ I breathed.

Indeed, the seventh member of the group was a small child, a boy, with beautifully stunning honey eyes and gold locks that halfway covered his innocent face. He looked up at the woman before him and gave a big childish smile. I nearly fainted right there. If there was any other way to explain him I would have to say he was a male version of Ayami-chan from one of our previous cases. Even still, he was much more innocent and adorable. The woman grazed her hand across the top of his small head and stroked him over and over in a loving gesture. Then she turned away from him and stood back up to face Takashi once more.

Again I gasped silently.

This woman, no, this teenager, was both haunting and beautiful. She was terrifying, yet stunning all rolled into one. No wonder I couldn't look away. Her black hair looked like silk threads, soft and beautiful. It was almost strait, except for some natural waves that caused it to cover part of her eye and a side of her face.

I gasped once more, though I didn't mean to, the sound came out and everyone could here it in the dead silence.

The group looked at me, as well as the young boy and the dark haired girl. My heart stopped, her eyes, such beautiful eyes. It was as though two perfect emeralds had been imbedded into her soft porcelain skin and that little boy, how would we be able to work with these gods around us?

Takashi cleared his throat.

They looked away from the crowed of psychics and turned full attention to Takashi. How he was able to take the full blasts of their perfection I have no idea. Wait, that's right, he's a narcissist, he must think he looks better than all of them combined. I clenched my teeth at the very thought of that.

"Who is your leader and what group do you belong to?" he asked once again.

They looked at the black haired woman.

"I would be the leader." she said liquid velvet dancing on the beauty of her voice.

Takashi gasped at the sound of her smooth voice, but he quickly cleared his throat to cover his tracks.

"Yes, well then, alright, but what group do you belong to?" he asked again, this time with a hint of annoyance.

Behold the power of Naru-two! One who thinks himself higher than the gods!

I nearly fell out of my chair in shock, and Bou-san managed to catch me before I fell, but just barely, because he was too busy trying to hold his laughter in.

Naru just sat there, being his stoic self, he hadn't changed in the least.

Behold the terrifying power of the original Naru-chan!

I shivered.

"What group we belong to? Isn't it obvious?" the woman asked, beauty slipping out of her lips. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Well, at least she didn't strike Naru's attention, which was rather odd. He could be gay. That would explain a lot of things. No, the world would be too cruel that way, I refuse to think that is even an option. Naru is definitely NOT gay! "We're Begira." the goddess finished.

Everyone continued to stare.

"I don't think that these people know what 'Begira' is." the little boy suggested innocently. She stared at him, then smirked a little.

She laughed. It was a laugh that was filled with a mocking tint, yet it was beautiful and haunting, exactly like the woman whom it belonged to. "Yeah, I suppose _these_ people don't know the meaning of the word, huh?"

"Why you little…" I growled trying to make my way to knock some respect into that perfect mouth of hers. Unfortunately, Bou-san was holding me back from my goal.

"Mai, it would be bad for Naru if you lashed out. More importantly, you're wearing a skirt." Bou-san informed me. I stopped struggling against his restraining grasp. I hadn't really thought about the consequences of my actions. It would be bad to lash out in a skirt, no to mention those people had swords. I gulped at the thought of how sharp they must be. Bou-san sighed and let me go so that I could return to my seat.

"Excuse me miss, but what are Begira?" Yasuhara questioned. The woman sighed before once again smirking.

She leaned forward and got in the position to draw out her sword. The rest of the group followed, all except for the little boy who kept his smaller sword at his side. "We're Begira," she started calmly. "But isn't it pretty obvious?" her smirk widened into a defiant smile of anticipation. I looked around to see if anyone understood what these people were. No, one gave the slightest hint that they knew. She laughed once again that beautiful mocking laugh.

"We're demon slayers."

* * *

END OF CHAPTER

* * *

_What do you think?_

_Post your reviews and comments please._

_If not, then fear my almighty Kitty Powersnya._

_Oh, and could people PLEASE comment on my Colored World story because I have no comments there and I seriously want to know what people think of it._

_May the power of cookies always be with you!_

_My cookie! Mwuhahahaha!_

…_okay…_

_You readers should already know this, but if you don't then I will in form you that there is no such island of Riverfell, and there is no miracle flower called a Ribiscuit Lily. Sorry to all of you who were packing your bags to go there. I know one of you was. I can SEE you! OWOOOO! _sorry, just had to do that

_Bye._

_Oh yeah, I'll try to update soon, but I'm too lazy to do so right away, so please, be patient with me. Sorry._


	3. Day 2: Part 2

_Thank you for reviewing! That's so nice. At the end of the chapter, please read the credits, I have an _**important announcement**_ there._

_Thanks goes to:_

**Sara**- _You're so fun! I love our conversations!_

**Aufera**- _Yes, if I made Naru gay in this story I'm sure I would be dead by_ _now from pissed off readers who sent their killer intent through the computer system_. (It will find it's way to me through cyberspace or attack some poor defenseless innocent person, be careful!)

**Otaku Nayami**- _COOKIES ARE MINE! MWUHAHAHAHA! Cookies are the one thing that will help take over the world! Go! Go! Kitty Powers!_ nya!

* * *

**Day 2: Part Two**

"Naru…" I asked hesitantly as we climbed a huge grand staircase leading to our bedrooms, "This place is so big…how are we going to be able to cover all the rooms? We don't have near enough equipment."

"I've been thinking about that too. With so many rooms there's no way we could even take small readings of everything." John added meekly.

Naru was quiet for a while. Then he decided he found a rational conclusion.

"We will just have to focus on the rooms with bigger paranormal activities and ignore the rooms with less active occurrences. Hara-san, you will need to be at your best. What do you think, Shibuya?" Naru asked looking at Yasuhara.

I mentally kicked myself.

How could I have forgotten that Naru wasn't head honcho here…Yasuhara was. I should have directed the question at him.

"Indeed, such pressing matters need to be thought out quite deeply, I agree with your strategy Naru-san, then again, thinking out strategies for cases like this is what you're here for." said leader answered loud enough for everyone in the group to hear.

Nice save Yasuhara-san!

Yasuhara merely smiled at me and adjusted his glasses before continuing a quicker pace up the steps.

"Jeez, Mai, you owe him for that one. Really, why are you such a klutz?" Bou-san scolded playfully.

"Really Mai, that's why you should stay in school." Ayako added with a heavy sigh.

Masako delicately put her hand to her mouth to cover her soft giggles.

Great, now I was getting laughed at by Masako.

I smiled weakly before averting my gaze to my feet. This was so embarrassing!

"Shibuya Psychic Research…" the maid ten feet ahead of us announced loudly.

"Yes, that's us." Yasuhara declaired.

The maid nodded. "You will be staying in this room, the room directly across the hall may be used as you like." She said pointing to the rooms by her.

We all nodded and stepped toward our new home, or at least I would have, but being me…I fell.

"Mai!" John yelped as I fell backwards down the stairs.

* * *

_Warm._ Thu-thump _I can hear a heartbeat. _Thu-thump _Is… this a dream?_

"Are you alright?" asked a familiar smooth voice.

Slowly, and reluctantly, I opened my eyes to see the man who was talking.

I nearly gasped.

"Oh! Please forgive me! I'm really clumsy I just... thank you…um…-" I stuttered. A mad blush painted my face a dark red. My eyes were wide in surprise at the sight of…

"It's Daniel Mavis, and it's alright. I'm just glad you aren't hurt. That would have been some nasty fall." he laughed.

Oh his laugh!

It was melodious and deep enough so that I could feel the vibration from my place in his arms.

I blushed even deeper, amazingly it was possible, as I continued to gawk at him from my frozen enchantment.

He looked down at my face and stopped laughing. "Do you have your footing back?" he asked in a very business like manner. He'd seen my blush.

I nodded once, and he helped me stand back up.

"Mai!" John sighed in relief once he was at my side, "Are you sure you're alright, Mai?"

I nodded my head again.

"Thank you very much for helping her." said the quiet voice of Masako.

Typical Masako.

Where was she when I fell?

Gone.

Where was she when I was in the arms of a hansom man?

Right next to us.

Something about that doesn't sound right.

I continued to climb back up the stairs with John right behind me, making sure I didn't fall again…something that would most likely happen.

"You really scared me Mai." John mumbled quietly.

"Luckily she has a hard head to stop her fall." Bou-san joked while patting my head.

I'm a dog to him.

A play thing.

It's not my fault I'm so clumsy! They should have known that _Mai_ and _staircase_ are two words that should never be used in the same sentence.

"Hey, easy there girly!" Bou-san continued to joke as he held his hands up in defense.

I continued my irritated glare.

Obviously I was a terrible glarer because it had no more than a childish effect…so I stopped glaring and decided to just look dead ahead of me.

John and I finally made it back to the others, who were already opening their door, they all saw me.

They were laughing…Naru was smirking…no…he was glaring.

"Since we are in a large castle with many staircases and confusing room layouts, such clumsiness would be very dangerous Mai. If you can't handle it, go home.

His words…were a blade.

I started shaking and clenched my fists to calm myself.

No, it was no use. I would have to show my feelings now.

"You shut your mouth Naru! Typical narcissist! Don't you even care that I almost got hurt? What if I died? At least John cared! So did Mavis-san! And he doesn't even belong to our group! I can't stand you! Since you think I'm so worthless, you can just solve this case without me!" I screamed. Tears were welling in my eyes, whether from anger or sadness I don't know. I don't even care.

They all looked at me shocked, even Naru showed signs of disbelief.

Sure I had complained and judged, but I had never been so angry at Naru before.

I can't stand it. All of their faces…I can't stand it!

I spun around and took off running down the staircase.

My shoulder slammed into someone else's, but I didn't really care. I just needed to get away from them, and as fast as I could.

* * *

"That idiot! She didn't use her head at all this time! She could be anywhere in this god-forsaken place." Ayako complained. They'd been searching for her for hours. The castle was so vast that it could take days to search through everything, especially if she was moving. 

"Has anyone found any signs of her yet?" asked the man they new as Monk Hiro as he appeared from down the far corridor.

"'She is in a dark place surrounded by guards of hell' is what Miyoka-san predicted before she needed to sleep." offered the priestess called Naomi as she looked up from her magazine. She didn't really care about a stupid girl. She did however, care about those 'hunks' with blue eyes plastered all over the pages she was reading.

"What good is that? This whole place is dark!" the tan haired companion of Mai hissed. "Where are you, Mai?" he pleaded.

"We wouldn't be having this problem if you had better control over your employees." This was spoken by an ungrateful member of the Mavis group. He didn't like having to take care of others when money wasn't involved.

Shinuya's group didn't take into care what everyone was saying. If it wasn't helping them find their friend, it wasn't needed, so it would be ignored completely.

As the groups frantically searched, no one noticed one of the members of the Shibuya team standing by the staircase.

"Mai…" he whispered. He slid his hand up to his shoulder where Mai had slammed into him.

His eyes widened.

"Naru!" he screamed as he sped toward his team.

"John! What's wrong?" Yasuhara asked concerned.

"It's Mai! When she hit my shoulder…She's possessed!" the blonde wailed.

"That's impossible. I sense no spirits here." Masako 'politely' reminded him.

Naru supported her claim. "What makes you believe she's been possessed?"

John gulped.

"When I touched where she bumped into me, I got this really sharp sensation. It was like a current of emotions. Sometimes when I exorcise people with strong spirits I feel it…but it's never been this strong before." He was whimpering and trembled all at once. "Mai is in trouble!"

That's when tears overflowed from the young exorcists eyes. "We have to find her!"

"That girl…she's the one with the strong aura right?"

Yasuhara, Naru, Lin, John, Masako, Ayako, and Houshou all turned around to the meet the keeper of the voice.

It was them.

The demon slayers.

Begira.

And the woman was talking.

"What do you mean by strong aura?" Masako inquired.

The slayers stood dumbstruck.

The leader gave a disbelieving sigh.

"Seriously, don't you people know anything? Her aura is the emotions and energy around her. Hers is quite strong, which means she's come into contact with something powerful in the past." Chimed in one of the boys of the group, it was the dark brown haired one.

Shibuya's group stood silent.

He slapped himself.

"The girl with the short hair, wearing the skirt, smells like tea, has the bad temper-"

Bou-san gave a sad smirk, he had described her exactly. "Yep, that'd be her. Have you seen her?" he asked more concerned.

The leading woman nodded toward the man who had described her.

He saw her nod. "Yeah, yeah, I understand." he answered her boredly.

He closed his eyes and inhailed through his nose, then he began to sniff at the air like dog would.

"It's going to be the kid from the staircase." The blonde member of the slayers forecasted.

The other boy with black hair groaned. "It's the one from the wall."

"Wanna make a bet on it?" the blonde girl asked greedily.

"You're on." The two of them hit fists in agreement to the bet.

"Fifth floor." _Sniff_. "Dark room." _Sniff_. "Smoke." _Sniff._ "Stale." _Sniff_. "Dust." _Sniff._ "Sacred." the 'sniffer' began listing off where he smelt her.

His eyes snapped open.

"Blood."

"Well then, guess we better go get her for you." The 'sniffer' sighed. "What a pain. She's in a sacrificial room."

"What?" the Shibuya group screamed.

* * *

They had been fallowing after the demon slayer to the fifth floor, which was almost difficult considering the speed in which both group traveled was at completely different levels. 

"These guys are gonna get a shock when the turn old like us." Bou-san noted over to Ayako, both of them were on the floor panting.

"Excuse me! I'm still young!" she protested with deep breaths.

"Whatever you say, you're just in denial." he weezed.

"We're here." Their beautiful guides said bluntly.

They were in front of a giant pair of redwood doors, each having a strange engraving of swirls and symbols carved on them.

"Mai!" they begged as they burst through the doors.

The room was made of completely red, the carpet, the fabrics that hung down from the sealing, the lighting, everything. The group cautiously made their way in to find gargoyles mounted throughout the large room, and off to the corned was a huddled figure sitting on the floor.

* * *

"Mai." John breathed in relief. 

Mai sat crouched down on the floor before them, her knees hugging her chest, and her hands blocking sound from her ears.

"It's okay now Mai, we're here." Ayako offered soothingly.

Mai was chanting. "They'll never find me. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never Nev-"

"Get a hold of yourself, Mai." Naru ordered.

Mai's eyes shot open and stared at him.

Her face twisted into a look of evil and hate. "Would you like to play a game? Come play with me? It's a fun game, so much fun. Come. Shall we play a game? It's fun. Lot's of people should play. Let's play a game."

"Stop it!" ordered a small child. It was the adorable boy from the slayers. "She doesn't want to play. Let her go." he snarled, as deadly sounding as a child could.

Then he let an angelic smile spread happily across his lips.

"We'll play together some other time. Okay? I promise!"

She nodded.

"Don't forget, you promised."

The eyes of the girl rolled back into her head, and she passed out.

* * *

End of Chapter

* * *

_Yeah, yeah, it got really crappy when I took it out of Mai's context, oh well. I might change it later. MIGHT. I'm too lazy to right now._

_Please read and review peoples. Oh, and I'm asking people to_ **submit things they think should happen** _for ideas. I'm getting writers block with this. I know what I want to happen, but I need little events to happen before the main horror comes in._

_PLEASE HELP AND SUBMIT EVENTS IN REVIEWS!_

_Thanks for reading! _nya!


	4. Day 3

**I don't own Ghost Hunt, I only love it.**

Thanks for the reviews!

**Claire- **_I made them_ 'beautiful' _demon slayers so that they would stand out from the regular people and catch attention. It worked, right? Glad that you like it otherwise. What parts do you find confusing? I'll try to make it clearer in the next chapters._

**Ingird- **_Oh the power of jealousy! Dun dun dun DDDDUUUUMMMM!!!! Hahaha!_

**Lewnuhkkau**- _Sweet screen name!...hard to spell…anyways. Naru should suffer shouldn't he! _smiles evily

**Kyia Star- **Yeah_, yeah, yeah. I know John was out of character…but there was a reason for that…I think. Hopefully I answer that annoyance in this chapter…I'm evil that way_. _Mwuhahahaha!!_ cough cough _Yeah, and I made Naru an idiot in this. He's trusting Masako completely, so he doesn't see it as more than an outburst from Mai. Leave me_ _alone._ gives puppy dog eyes _There's a story line in here that I really want, but it's going to take a while to build up to it, and unfortunately I write where everything is based on the main plot, so small little details escape me. I know, pitiful. Besides, if I take what the readers want, wouldn't that make it a better story? Improvise people. You're allowed to do it. Anyway, thanks for the comment, it really helped me out. Seriously._

**Sara Moon-** _I was about to make it so she actually fell down the stairs, but that would be_ _that, and I wouldn't get much fun from it._ snorts _I'd have to make her get hurt because that's the most rational event that would happen from falling down stairs…anyway… _

**Forever Dreamin- **_Cool screen name! So, yays…I updated!_

_**This chapter is dedicated to **_**Sara Moon**

_**Why? **_

_**Because she rocks!**_

_Thanks to you all who have read and reviewed. May the power of cookies always be with you!...unless you eat them all that is…then just use the sweet Kitty Powers!nya_

**Day 3**

You are my heart, oh

Small and precious and beautiful

I want to hold you

With these hands of mine

You are my heart, oh

Young and strong yet innocent

I want to love you

With this heart of mine

In the night where shadows roam,

I will light a way

From the moon so far a away,

My love will find a way

You are my heart, oh

Beating still and lovingly

Hidden in the shadows,

A light will light your way

"_Who's…singing?" I ask to the unfamiliar darkness around me._

_Where is everyone?_

"_Bou-san? John? Ayako? Masako? Yasuhara? Naru?Anyone!" I call out._

_Light._

_There's a small light ahead of me._

_I start walking toward it._

_Someone's in the light._

"_Who's there?"_

_A lady?_

"You are my heart, oh_" she sang._

_What's she looking at?_

_I walk up to her, she doesn't even notice me, she's too busy staring at something in her arms._

_Cautiously I peer into her arms._

_A baby?_

_Is this…one of _those _dreams? If so, where's Naru?_

"You are my heart, oh_" the melodious voice repeated._

_She stopped singing and smiled down at the baby._

"_Go to sleep now, little love, we'll be together forever, I promise."_

_Why did she say that? The baby has already been asleep for a long time._

"_Hush now. Go to sleep. Go to sleep." She cooed as her hand slid toward the baby's chest. "Everything's going to be alright."_

_Her fingers dug into the baby's skin._

_Blood._

_The baby is bleeding._

"_What are you doing? Stop that! You'll kill it!" I scream._

_It fell on deaf ears._

_Her fingers dub deeper and deeper into the infant's skin._

"_Please stop!" I wail as I try to hit her across the head. It's no use, my hands can't touch her._

"_All done little love, all done." She cooed again._

_I stare in horror at what's in her hand._

_A heart._

_A small little heart._

_The baby's heart, and it was covered in its blood._

_I think I'm going to be sick._

_I tried, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the murderer and the baby._

_Why? Why didn't the baby scream? She took out his heart!  
_

_The woman brought her fingers to her lips, and swallowed the organ._

_Once done, the woman vanished into darkness._

"_Why?" I gasp as I unwillingly step closer to the bundle now lying on the floor._

_I gently hold the bundle and look at the poor baby._

_Blue._

_This baby is completely blue._

_It hit me._

_That's why it didn't cry out._

_It's already dead!_

"_It's too sad." I cry. I pressed the dead bundle to my chest trying to comfort the poor body._

"_Don't touch it."_

_My eyes opened spilling out a stream of tears._

"_Why? Why did this have to happen? He was just a baby!" I shriek to the darkness._

"_That thing is no longer human! You must get away from it! Now! Hurry!" the voice ordered frantically._

"_What do you-"_

_Movement._

_My eyes wandered from the darkness down to the bundle I was holding._

_I screamed._

_Its eyes!_

_Its eyes were open! It was smiling!_

_The infant pierced the skin on my shoulder with its teeth._

_Another scream erupted form my throat._

"_Hurry! It's going to eat you if you don't get away from it!" the voice pleaded._

_I tried to pry the baby off my arm._

_No use._

"_I can't! He won't let go!" I yelled to the voice._

"_You must! If you die here, you'll die in real life too!"_

_The teeth sunk deeper into my flesh._

"_It hurts!" I scream as another searing pain burned its way through my arm as it bit down deeper._

"_Do you know any warding spells?" the voice demanded._

"_Yes! I do!"_

"_Good, you have to use them. If this goes as I plan, that thing will be destroyed and you'll be able to wake up. Now, recite the spell!" the voice urged._

_I yelped as more flesh was destroyed, then took a deep breath._

"_Naumaku sanmanda bazarada dankan! Namaku sanmanda bazarada dankan! Naumaku sanmanda bazarada dankan! Rin! Pyo! Tou! Sha! Kai! Chin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!"_

_A sound of glass breaking filled the empty darkness._

_The baby in my arms shattered._

"_Get ready!" the voice ordered._

_No._

_It wasn't just a voice._

_It belonged to the man running toward me._

_He seems…so familiar…like a childhood friend that I'd long forgotten…_

"_Stay clam." He ordered, as he held me to his chest and took off running toward the screaming darkness._

_I nodded._

"_Everything's going to be okay, but I need you to close your eyes for me. Understand?"_

_I nodded again and closed my eyes tightly._

"_Let's go."

* * *

_

_Falling?_

_Were we…falling?_

_I think so. That fluttery feeling is in the pit of my stomach, and I feel a breeze rushing past my face._

_Where are we?_

_The feeling stopped as feet landed gently on a hard floor making a 'tap' echo through out the place._

"_You can open your eyes now." He said calmly as he released me to the floor._

_I opened my eyes and saw a path._

_The path was completely made of light._

_A white ribbon in a dark forest_

"_I'm glad…I was able to do something…before…" the voice was getting softer, as if it was drifting far away._

_I looked at my savior and gasped._

"_You…why?" I cry._

_He smiled._

_His form was being absorbed by the darkness._

_He was being erased._

_He was dying._

"_Please" he begged as most of his body fading way, "Help him. He doesn't… remember…he needs to know………he's in danger…… of crossing………… the bridge……………………help him."_

"_The bridge? Who? Who do you need to help?" I beg._

_He was nearly gone, fading away, dying._

"_Help…brother…………he's so scared…………I tried………"he cried._

"_I understand. I'll help him. You're going to help to, right?" I promise quietly._

_He slowly shook his head no, and smiled a weak last smile._

"_I couldn't………fight the darkness…………………………… forever……………I've used the last………of my light………to illuminate you……a path home……………hurry………save him……tell him…………"_

_His body completely faded away._

"_What! Tell him what!" I plead frantically._

"……………_I'm……………………………so……r………rrr…………y………" A faint whisper of wind breathed._

"_I understand. I'll help, no matter what. I'll find a way to help. I have to. I owe you!" I repeat to myself and the darkness._

_My feet walk me to the lit path, and I make my way back home._

"_I'll do it. I promised. Why? Why did you do that! You idiot! No. I'm the idiot. I can't even remember your name!" I confess as I wiped tears off of my face.

* * *

_

My sight is fuzzy as I manage to open my eyes for the first time in what seems like ages.

The ceiling is hazy, but there.

Why am I here?

Did I fall asleep? If so, what did I dream about…I can't seem to remember…

I scrunch my face in concentration.

Nothing, I can't remember what happened in my dream at all.

Not the slightest thing.

…

Someone is calling…

…

Who is it? What are they saying?

"Mai!"

The world snaps back in my face.

"John?" I ask hesitantly.

I blink.

Was that really my voice? It was hoarse and scratchy, not like mine at all.

"John?" I ask again.

Yes, it is definitely my voice.

"Mai!" he calls again relief drowning his words. "I was so-" he couldn't even finish his sentence before he was tearing up again.

His fists clench the sheets of the bed I was on.

I yelp as he jumps over the side of the bed and holds me in a tight embrace.

"John? Wha-what's wrong?"

I was blushing; this wasn't like John at all!

"Mai…" he held my tighter, "I was so scared…I thought…I thought we lost you!" he cried.

The fabric on my shirt is getting damp.

Was John…crying?

"John! Why are you so upset? Did something happen?" I beg. For John to be so scared and upset, something big must have happened. "John, tell me, please!"

_She almost died. You were going to let her die._

My eyes widen.

Whose voice is that?

_You were careless and because of that Mai got hurt. You're too weak. You couldn't do anything to help her._

John clenched his teeth.

"John. What are you doing?" a cold voice demanded.

John let go of me and sat at the edge of the bed.

He wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

"If you're going to get so emotional over such a trivial thing, John, go home. We don't need those kids of people here." Naru snapped.

"Naru…did something happen?" I ask as I stare him in the eye.

"Nothing, you just got possessed. It's nothing serious, John just can't handle himself." he said coldly, eyes glaring at John.

_See? Mai nearly died and he says it's a trivial thing. He doesn't even care…unless he wanted her dead in the first place. That would explain why he thinks her getting hurt is an unimportant matter. _

Who's saying such horrible things!

John bit his lip.

"Can't you hear that?" I beg to the two others in the room.

"Hear what?" Naru asks nonchalantly.

"That voice." I breathe.

_He doesn't care about Mai, about anyone in the team. He only cares about solving the case. You all could get hurt…die…and he won't care, as long as he solves the case._

"There! Can't you hear that! It's saying such…horrible things! Don't tell me you can't hear it! Naru!" I scream at him.

_He's guilty. He wants Mai dead. He already tried to kill her once. Kill him. He's going to try and kill her again. You must kill him first! _

"You bastard!"

John leapt off the bed and charged at Naru with a fist clenched ready to punch.

"I'll kill you!" he bellows.

"No!" I shriek and try to scramble out of the bed.

Precious time was wasted because I got tangled in the sheets and fell to the hard floor with an 'oomph'.

John threw his punch strait at Naru's face, but Naru easily dodged…but with a slight look of disbelief in his eyes.

"Calm down!" Naru ordered as he kicked John strait in the gut, hard enough so that he sent the blonde flying backward into the wall, breaking a mirror when he landed.

"John! Naru!" I scream, scrambling once again, this time to just stand up.

Tears were building up in the corners of my eyes.

Why?

Why did this happen?

"Unforgivable." John hissed as he weakly got up and steadied himself.

He held a piece of broken mirror in his hand from when he was flown backward.

Naru narrowed his eyes.

"Hurting Mai is unforgivable." he growled as he stepped forward. "We trusted you, you bastard, and then you betray us by trying to kill Mai."

"What are you talking about…John?" I plead.

My pleading was ignored as John charged again at Naru, the mirror piece held like a knife.

"I'll kill you before you get a second chance!"

"Rin! Pyo! Tou! Sha! Kai! Chin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!" I scream while frantically making the hand seals.

John stopped moving.

The mirror piece fell from his hand.

I sigh in relief.

Naru glared at John.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

John's lips moved into a smile.

"And here I thought I would get away with it too. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted. You humans are so…fun." He said playfully.

You…humans…just what was possessing John?

"You, how long have you been possessing him for?" I mumble.

"Hmm? Don't be ridiculous. I just possessed him now. I wouldn't want this dark haired annoyance to break my precious little toy now would I? No, I was merely playing with this human." he laughed.

John…just what have you gone through?

"Without possessing him you were able to get him to attack me, when John himself knew the consequences of such actions. How did you manage to do that?" Naru asked calmly.

He sighed.

"Humans have this fun little thing called emotions. I merely played on those to get him to do fun things. A little blaming here, a little paranoia there, and I got him. It's all quite easy, and all quite fun. Then, say I whispered to his soul that you were going to try and kill Mai, he became defensive and chose to try and stop you before you could hurt Mai. One of the main reasons humans are so fun! Everything he felt, everything he thought, everything he did…I controlled."

"Why are you telling us how you did it?" I ask hesitantly.

"Because! That's the beauty of it all! There's nothing humans can do to stop it! That's what makes it so fun! There's no way to fight it, none at all! Every single human is my toy! And toys are so fun to play with!" he laughed again.

I gulped.

Why was it acting like this? Spirits don't act like this!

"Well then, I best be taking my leave now. Controlling the body itself is less…satisfactory."

"The hell you are!" announced a new voice.

"What!" the spirit in John bellowed.

When I look down at John again, everything was different.

"Che. Stupid wall spirit. I thought you would learn your lesson when we got your other friend; taking pride in manipulating a human, disgusting. You're a sorry excuse for a haunt." a blonde haired girl sighed. She looked down at John.

"You'll pay for this." he hissed. He struggled to get away from the grasp he was in on the floor, but it was no use.

The blonde haired girl yawned.

"Hey, Senpai, what are we gonna do with him? Leader doesn't like us using any force when we don't need to."

She was saying this to a dark brown haired older teen, who was pinning John to the ground and threatening his throat with the sheath of his sword.

"Depossess him, lock the spirit back in the wall." the boy replied.

"Aw! That's so boring."

He glared at her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She clapped her hands in front of her, as far away from her body as her arms allowed.

She closed her eyes and took a breath.

"Ancient gods of the forgotten tribe. Here the vow of your humble servant. Desert this place and sent forth your wrath! Return this soul to his man-made cage. By the power of we who fight the darkness, and of the ancient symbol by which we defend, chain this soul. Level 1, Seal!" she chanted.

"I won't forget this!" John screamed as a blinding light encased him, but soon the light vanished, and John was left limp on the floor.

"You just had to make a show and do the who incantation, didn't you." The dark haired Begira sighed.

"But I was bored!" she whined back.

"Don't worry about your friend. He'll wake up in a few seconds, but he won't remember anything. Don't hold what he did against him, and don't worry, the spirit is locked in the wall again. Well then, see ya."

The two demon slayers waved a slight goodbye as they headed out the door.

* * *

"John, are you alright?" I ask concerned, who wouldn't be considering the situation he was just in…

He had just opened his eyes.

"Mai? I'm glad to see you're up. Is something wrong?"

"No, you passed out while watching over Mai." Naru kindly "informed" John of what "happened".

"I see."

"Are you sure you're okay, John?" I ask again.

"Yeah, how about you?"

I nodded.

"Fine. Thanks." I grinned.

He noticed my cocky grin and gave a quizzing look to me.

"Well, considering I've been possessed a lot through out our cases, I'd say a little thing like this barely fazed me!" I informed with a proud pat on my…'muscles'.

John laughed and stood up.

"Well then, since you two are better, go out and help the others and measure the castle for blueprints." said Naru.

I frowned.

"Okay."

* * *

In the dark lobby, where the first meeting of the case had been held, two figures stood.

"You're amazing!" the young child awed.

The girl beside him continued to roll a glass ball around on the tops of her fingers with ease.

"You think so?" she asked lovingly.

He nodded and continued soaking up the sight of his beloved companion's trick.

Two other figures entered the lobby, a dark brown haired boy and a blonde haired girl.

"Reporting, Leader." informed the brown haired teen as he and the blonde bowed down on their knee to the woman.

"Oh?" she said curiously, as she continued to vigorously roll the boll around her hand.

"While investigating a human possessed by a wall spirit we discovered a very troubling problem." the blonde continued.

"And what would that be?" the leader asked just as curiously as before.

The little child beside her looked at the new members.

"The spirit exhibited a mastery of Level 9 Human Manipulation."

The ball flew off of the girl's hand and fell to the wooden floor, shattering into thousands of pieces.

"That is a problem."

* * *

End of Chapter

* * *

_What did you think?_

_Read and review please._

_Oh, and could someone tell me what _Fluff, Lemon, OC, _and_ OOC_ mean? I've seen them on story summaries, but I don't really get what they stand for._

_Thanks to all people who read._

_I'll try to update again soon…depends on how lazy I feel._


	5. Day 3: Night

_**Oh yes! I'm back! I finally got off of my lazy butt and updated! So yes! I'm back!**_

**Random Reader: **_**Is that a good thing?**_

_**Me**_**: **jaw drops** Good **_**point, but I'm here now and I won't go away until someone gives me a huge, huge, HUGE batch of cookies! ...or goldfish…one or the other…**_

_**Thanks for the reviews-**_** Lewnuhhkau, Hiya24, Kyia Star, Ingrid, animeluver123, Baby Konoha Blossom, **_**and **_**Otaku Nayami **_**without you guys I would have been an oblivious idiot to what those things meant, and I probably would have not updated…be grateful it's a long weekend…though I already blew off quite a few weekends without updating. Sorry!**_

_**So, enough of this boring chit-chat…**_

_**TO THE CHAPTER!**_

We entered a large room.

Unlike ordinary large rooms in abandoned castles, this one was filled with crystal ornaments, velvet and silk curtains, beautiful wooden sculptures, as well as sculptures made of stone and marble.

"Wow!" I gasp completely and undeniably in awe, "This place is huge!" I continue as I tilt my head until it hurt just so I could see the rafters rising high above us.

Bou-san growled. "Don't remind us Mai, we have to measure everything."

I cringed at the reminder.

We had been spending the past…gazillion…hours measuring every room and entryway.

"This place could be considered a piece of architectural artwork." Masako innocently informed…she had the time, she wasn't measuring…as she ran her pale hand delicately across a reflectively clean oak table, dating back probably one or two hundred years.

I narrowed my eyes at my famous rival and glared a glare that would almost beat Naru's.

"Mai, breathe." Ayako laughed when she saw my face.

Air? Air! Why am I holding my breath!

I open my mouth to take in huge gasps of this refreshing life saving thing.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I snap childishly.

Now everyone in the Shibuya group was laughing…well…except for a dark statue who calls himself my boss… "If you have time to talk, you have time to do your job. I don't-"

"-pay you to stand around and do nothing. If you don't like it go home." I finished for him while holding a know-it-all look and teacher like posture.

Ayako and Bou-san snickered while Naru glared at me.

"Oh, you're just mad because I stole your line." I joke.

He sighs and walks over to a secretly smirking Lin to pretend like he has engrossed himself in something that became suddenly important.

"I think you wounded his pride, Mai." John jokingly whispers into my ear.

I can't help but smile.

"Jeez, I never though I would ever beat him," I whisper back, "and I never thought he would be such a sore loser."

We exchange a few more silent laughs and snickers between each other…even though Naru was most likely cursing us to death in a silent and composed snap of embarrassed madness.

"Mai, how long is that wall?" Ayako calls.

"Seventeen feet and five and a half inches long," I inform to the miko. She was standing besides Bou-san as he drew in the correct length of the wall on a miniature outline of the building.

"Are you positive?" she inquires.

A low aggravated growl erupts from my throat.

"Of course I'm positive! I've only measured it about fifty times only to get the same results!" I huff.

"Hear that Naru?" Bou-san asks as he releases his pencil from his cramped hand, "That means we're all done!"

We all give an exhausted and relieved sigh.

Bou-san runs his hand through his long hair. "Are we completely done, Naru?"

"No."

"What!" we all scream at the same time.

Naru glares at us.

"Acording to our measurements and our rough draft outlined map of the building we recieved earlier, we still have a library, Study, bedroom, and the basement to measure and map." Lin answered our question calmly from his computer where he was still typing up final touches to our map...the question we were all to tired and fearful to ask. With good reason too! Who would want to measure all of that after we just measured all of this?

All the members of the SPR sighed at their new found depression and contemplated wether this case was worth it or not when a stoic voice broke our silence.

"Be on guard when we measure these rooms. These, if anything is here, will be the most dangerous."

We all turned to our black clothed boss.

I twitched in what I could only recognize as a cross between fear and annoyance. "Why is that?"

Lin stopped typing to look at me in a way that said "you aren't serious are you?"

No need to say this though, for Naru was already on a mission to inform me in all the humiliating ways I loathed.

"A castle like this does not have a basement like normal houses. For Mai's sake-"

I froze, irritated.

"-I'll explain. During the Medieval time, which is actually when this castle was built, it was common for the place to be ruled by people of high rank, nobility, or even royal blood. Because some many enemies and traitors were threatening these important people, their stronghold was given a room to retain traitors, criminals, or spies, where they would be then locked away for good, or tortured to find information on rival nobles. Such rooms needed to be almost impossible to escape from, and it is much harder to escape form an underground room than it is to escape from one above ground."

"In other words, Mai" Bou-san concluded as he placed a hand on my shoulder, "we have to measure the dungeon."

"Such a place!" Masako exclaimed, holding her kimonoed arm toward her mouth, as her soft skin became pure white. "Such an inhumane place!"

Ayako jumped at her sudden outbreak. "Masako? What's wrong?"

We were all staring at the dark haired medium now.

She was trying to look composed, but that hardly covered the fact that her petite figure was shaking uncontrollably.

"Even if there aren't any spirits here," she stared in a horrified whisper, "I can still tap into, no, rather I am forced into feeling the emotions of those who resided and died there. Such a place is permanently scarred with pain and sorrow. I-I don't think I would be able to handle such a place-" A few stray tears threatened to come out of the corners of her eyes as she flung herself onto Naru's stoic form.

"Why you!" I growled trying to free myself from Bou-san's restraining grasp.

"Naru, as much as I hate having to go there...I..I..." she buried her head into his dark black sweater. "I will go there to check for spirits for the sake of the case, as long as you are with me."

The little She Demon!

My nails dub into my palms and a growl emitted from my throat at the very thought of how "difficult" it would be for Masako. I can see it now...

_"Naru..." Masako calls softly in her scared voice._

_"I'm right here, you don't need to be afraid." Naru answers with concern._

_"I'm glad."_

_"It seems only natural you feel so afraid. Such a burden your ability must be for you. I am sorry to have caused you so much distress." my guilty boss said with a voice of velvet as he pulls Masako into a tight, comforting embrace._

_A deep crimson blush makes its way across Masako's pale, tear stained face. "Naru."_

_She delicately lifts her head and looks deep into the dark, mysterious onyx eyes of Naru, where in that moment, they see how much they truly lov-_

That will NOT happen!

My hair vigorously whips from side to side as I try to get rid of that frightening thought.

That will definitely...

Bou-san looked from me to Masako and Naru (who Masako still had in her clutches) then back to me.

His melodious laugh bounced off the walls and echoed in the large room.

"You're hilarious Mai!"

I laugh with him in a sarcastic manner as we headed out the door to find the dungeon.

If only we knew how dangerous things would become, perhaps we wouldn't be laughing.

Perhaps we would, instead, but running for our lives.

_**Yeah, yeah, I know, short crappy chapter. I just thought I would update it since I haven't updated it in like...FOREVER!**_

_**I've decided to make my chapters shorter, since one of the reasons I don't update as often is because I dread having to type up huge amounts of chapter. This is long enough for a chapter right? I would like your opinions on how long it should be, because I know extremely short chapters annoy the hell out of me…so give me your input.**_

_**Sorry if there are any spelling or grammar problems. My **__**labtop doesn't have Microsoft Word or Word Pad even, so I have to go ALL THE WAY downstairs to type, and I'm not used to that since I haven't used this computer in A LONG FERAKING TIME!**__** So that's another reason I don't update as often. Sorry for the inconvenience.**_

_**Read and review please!**_


	6. Day 4, Early Morning

**Finally, I actually added another "non-filler". Hope you guys still remember the plotline. Hardy, har, har. Anyway. I'm trying that whole "Make the chapters shorter so I get off my lazy ass and type. So…is it too short…? Is it working? **

**Me own nothing...**

Our Shibuya group is now in the dungeon of the castle, and it is not pretty.

The only light available is light from our flashlights and a few old torches that John lit, and even then there are still huge places overfilling with shadows. The air down here is wet and dry at the same time, like a thick blanket of dusty humid air was placed all across the room. It makes it hard to breath, and it feels like a major case of claustrophobia no matter where you go.

Every now and then a freezing breeze makes its way toward us, even though there are no other entrances that the wind could have come from, which only adds to the creepiness of the place.

"This place is cold, and devoid of life." Masako informed quietly as she places a delicate kimonoed hand in front of her face, as if trying to shield the creeping chill from herself.

_What made you say that? The fact that it's cold and no one has been down here for nearly a hundred years? That's a bit too obvious even for you Masako. Like anyone would fall for that-_

"What an amazing aura sensor you must have!"

We all turned to see that female miko.

Ayako snorts.

"Naomi, was it?" I ask.

"Yes, you have a very good memory." she answers back.

"Mai! When did that happen! Are you possessed?" Bou-san jokingly teased, grabbing one of John's crosses and holding it before me like I was some sort of…

I turn away from Naomi and scowl at him. "I'm not a vampire Bou-san."

He laughed. "Are you sure? Because you look like you 'Vant to svuck my blood!' Mwuhahahaha"

He added emphasis by wiggling his fingers, trying to make a laugh like Dracula, and making "Awoo" ing sounds afterwards.

"Don't mind him," I say when I'm facing Naomi again, "He's an idiot."

Bou-san nearly fell.

The priestess named Naomi laughed slightly at the now depressed look Bou-san was giving off, a ringing of bells kind of laugh.

"You're group is quite amusing." she said with another soft laugh. "Did you want to ask a question?"

"Huh?" I stare at her blinking.

"Well, you asked me my name, remember…"

I freeze.

"Oh, yeah, sorry… I completely forgot about that. Um…" What was I going to ask her…OH! I remembered now! "You're all by yourself right? What are you going to do if you come into contact with a spirit?"

She stares at me with a cocky smile.

"I will merely exorcise it! No spirit stands a chance when I'm there."

I hear Ayako huff and stomp away toward another side of the dungeon.

"Did you have a question to ask us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing, you just looked like you wanted to ask a question is all…" I laugh a bit to try and cover up my mistake.

"Well, actually…"

I stop my fake laughing.

"That hansome young man…Kazuya…"

I glare at her.

_She's calling him by his first name! She doesn't even know him! How dare she! Where is her respect!?_

"Oh… never mind. Forget I said anything." she says with a blush.

"No, please continue." _Yes, please. I dare you._

She looks over my shoulder at Shibuya and then back to me.

"Does he have a girlfriend? He's just my type if he doesn't."

_What! What is this girl saying! There's no way she could be Naru's girlfriend. No way!_

An idea strikes me that will send this fish swimming.

"No actually, he doesn't." _This is the truth, he doesn't have a girlfriend…at least…I hope he doesn't…_

She straitens up at this statement.

"He's actually not very concerned about girls…if you know what I mean…" _This is also the truth, he doesn't concern himself with girls because he's too busy working and ordering people around._

Naomi takes a step back.

"You mean…?" she asked hesitantly.

"I think you know what I mean, don't you?" _Yes, do you?_

"Oh!" she clears her throat. "Well, nice talking to you."

She wades herself around me trying to get to another area of the dungeon, when she bumps into Yasuhara and falls onto the floor.

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" he says politely.

She flinches when he tries to lend her a hand to help her up.

"N-No. No! I'm f-fine! Really!" she stutters as she stands up and walks away to a whole other area, far, far away from Yasuhara.

He walks up next to me and together we watch her fumble around trying to look busy.

"What do you think is up with her?" he asks innocently, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"I have no idea, Yasuhara, she must be a nutcase."

"Shibuya."

I turn and look at him. "What?"

"While we're here I'm supposed to be known as Shibuya Kazuya. Remember?"

Eek!

"Then…she was actually talking about you!"

"Pardon?" says Yasyhara, blinking in confusion.

"Nothing, nothing at all. Everything's fine…" I add another burst of fake laughter.

"Oh, okay!" he smiles, and with that he walks off.

Whoo! That was close.

At least I know Naru is safe.

I turn to sneak a look at my stoic boss, just to make sure.

He's standing next Lin. Together they're using thermometers and electrical sensors, then Naru points to a direction and Lin takes off.

Even if he is a stoic, narucisstical bastard, he's still my boss.

"Masako, do you sense anything here?" Ayako questions. We all turn to the medium for her answer.

"No. I feel no spirits here either."

We all sigh.

"Are you blind?" comes a voice from a dark corner.

John, Masako, and I turn our heads to see where the voice came from. The rest of the group has already wandered off.

"Who's there?" John calls innocently.

"You should be asking who's not there." the voice says again. This time it's accompanied by a body.

We all gawk.

I say, no matter how many times we've seen them we, or maybe just I, still can't help but have the breath stolen from me.

"Jeez, you'd think I'm a steak or something." he said sarcastically as he waved a hand in front of his face as if waving away heat.

I recognized this one…

…the black haired male…

…the one that had no manners, and stuck around with the blonde one.

Masako glared at him, despite her natural instinct to stare with awe.

"Do you doubt my abilities." she hissed.

The man sighed and slammed his hand to his forehead.

"You.Are.An.Idiot." He spells out.

"How dare you!"

I looked at Masako in shock.

She never gets this agitated. Never.

"You're too conceited and perfect to even see!" he growled.

"Are you saying you can!?" she growled right back.

I stepped away from Masako…she's sorta scaring me.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." he laughed at the fact that he was making fun of her.

I flinch away.

I don't like this man.

He's cruel.

And he's too beautiful for me to hate him.

He makes me feel like I'm dirty just looking at him.

In his presence I feel small.

Like a bug he can squish with a mere wave of his hand.

I don't know why, and I don't understand…

But for some reason…

…this man…

…terrifies me.

"That's enough." came a threatening voice from right beside me.

I turn in surprise and see that woman.

The one that leads them.

She's glaring at the other one.

Just looking at her face makes me feel like she's going to freak out and kill the first thing that moves.

The man backs away, hands up in surrender, a wicked grin plastered on his face.

The woman places a delicate comforting hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright. He doesn't mean any harm. We just get a little excited."

My eyes trace up from her hand on my shoulder up to her eyes.

They're calm and happy, and her face is smiling warmly at me.

I feel like I'm going to cry.

"You…" she says over at Masako.

The medium turns to her ready to take on any more insults.

"You can usually see spirits all the time right?"

"Yes."

"…and now you can't…"

"I can't even sense them. That is why there must be no spirits here."

"That is very conceited of you."

Masako glares.

"Would you like me to teach you?"

* * *

**Oh, God! That was a PATHETIC! ending. Oh well. I'm gonna start typing another chapter, like,…now… Hopefully… I will START typing now…though I probably won't post it if it's a long chapter… Depends on how lazy I feel.**

**Just to let people know, I have NOTHING AGAINST gays. If it sounded like I did in this chapter, don't think that. I repeat. I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST GAYS!**

**Review please. Hopefully I still have some readers that are willing to read after I haven't updated the actual plotline in like…forever…**

* * *


	7. Day 4, Masako's Training

**Hi! **_Waves_** I know this is a really short chapter, but I needed to add this before I could add the other scenes coming up. Just to warn people, the next few chapters might be a bit gory. I don't know exactly when they will become gory, so in the chapters that I think are the most gore filled, I will post a warning at the top. I hope this helps all you queasy readers. This chapter, however, is not gory, I'm just telling you how things will play out.**

"What do you see?" said the demon slayer. She was leaning against the stairwell, arms crossed over her chest, piercing eyes staring at Masako.

Masako sighs, tired by all the questions the woman had been asking her. "A wall."

The slayer closes her eyes annoyed. "Wrong."

"What do you mean wrong?" the medium cried is protest. "It's a wall."

"It is a wall, yet it is not a wall. It is a collection of stones piled upon each other, then cemented together with a combinations of clay, water, and sand."

"I do not understand. What's the difference?"

Masako had been trying to learn how to see spirits with the slayer for over three hours.

"The difference," the beautiful teacher started, "is how focused you are. Now," she reached into her hair, which had been tied into a high braided ring, and pulled out a hair pin.

She handed it delicately to her trainee, who accepted it hesitantly.

"Describe this object to me."

Masako gasped. "It's a beautiful hairpin," she says, flipping the ornament around so that it caught the light, emitting a small rainbow of colors across her pale hand, "decorated with a jeweled butterfly. Is it made out of amethyst?"

"Wrong!" the Begira hissed.

"But I described it like you asked! How am I wrong!" the medium protested again, fighting back the urge to cry.

The piercing eyes on her softened, turning into a warm motherly, gaze. "You are only seeing, you are not looking."

"I've told you before! I do not understand!" the black haired girl yelled. Tears of frustration running down her cheeks.

The haunting woman straitens up, uncrosses her arms, and walks over to the crying girl.

She wraps her arms around her, encasing the girl in a tight hug, pressing her face into her chest, blinding her, much to the girl's protest. "If I tell you the answer, you will not fully understand, thus this would all be pointless. "Now, describe me to myself."

"But I can't see." came the muffled reply from Masako.

"That's the point. If you cannot see, then you must feel, focus, and use every part of your being to understand. Begin."

The medium closed her eyes, for she wouldn't need them, and tried to concentrate.

"You're very warm, and you are firm with muscle…" she said quietly, slightly embarrassed.

"Good, what else?"

Adding more concentration to her determination, the girl focused.

"You're voice is low, yet smooth, and you have a very soft heart beat."

"Also good, but anyone could figure that out…try looking…deeper."

"But…" she tried to say, but she was quickly shushed by the woman holding her.

In a moment of utter defeat, Masako stopped trying, and the moment she did…

'_Where am I?' she though horrified at the darkness around her._

_The medium turned frantically, trying to find out what had happened. The only thing she found was the Begira woman… on a bridge._

'_What's going on, why is-'_

_It was then she realized the way the woman was positioned on the bridge. Her foot was caught against a wooden beam, the rest of her was leaning so far out that her body was horizontally sticking out toward the abyssal blackness surrounding everything. Should she make one, spur of the moment, movement, she would surely fall. The woman must have already noticed this, for her entire figure was covered in sweat, and her face was scrunched in a look of pain and restraint._

"_What are you doing? Watch out!" the medium called._

Masako snapped open her eyes, shoving the thing caging her away.

"What just happened!?" she demanded.

The Begira just flipped the hair on her shoulder back behind her neck, then sticking the pin back in her dark locks, giving off a look unwilling to give away any sort of emotion.

"What you saw, is more than your eyes could show you."

"Are you saying I should be able to see spirits now?" the kimonoed woman challenged.

"No, but once I tell you the way to see, you will be able to."

At first Masako was taken back, but she quickly recovered. "I thought you said you wouldn't tell me."

"I couldn't, not until you weren't as conceited as you were before."

A blush of fury spread across her face. "Why you-"

"You were right about that wall being a wall, but you were wrong because that wall is not completely a wall." the demon slayer suddenly started, grabbing Masako's full attention. "This place had not been disturbed in over a hundred years, it's only natural the spirits have become like part of the building itself."

Still confused, Masako gave a delicate sigh.

"When you step into a room, you see a bed, a dresser, a wall, and little trinkets. You see the room as a whole. However, by doing this you miss the little things, the strings of fabric in the carpet, the difference in strokes on the paint from the wall, the individual differences in color for each object. The only way you would notice these, is if a new object was placed in the room. New objects are unfamiliar, and give off a different aura form those that have been known of, but there is no new object to looks at, for the new object is the thing trying to look."

"You're saying that, because the sprits have been here undisturbed for such a long time, they have actually become the background of the building? And since I amthe new object, I could not see them?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying."

"How am I too see the background then?" the relaxing medium inquired.

"When you look at a wall, don't look for a wall, look for something at the wall that should not be there."

Not quite understanding, but too exhausted to ask for a better answer, Masako returned her gaze to the wall once again.

Her heart stopped.

"What is this…" she cried, legs nearly giving out from the shock. "Why are there so many…"

The new view in Masako's eyes was a mass of spirits, so compacted into the room, that she could not even see the wall anymore.

"I'd say about a third of those are just spirits that came here to stay undisturbed since no one had been here in such a long time, along with eight percent of that being spirits that came from the furniture and stones used to make the house." the haunting voice of the woman deduced.

"And the remaining two thirds…" Masako breathed, body shaking from the overwhelming presences.

"The remaining two thirds" she replies, her voice filled with a venomous seriousness, "would be all those who have been killed in this house."

Masako's trembling increased until they were full fledged shivering shakes.

The only voice she could find came out in a nearly inaudible whisper. "What could have done…all of this…"

The stunning woman crossed her arms again. "Even with this being a noble house, not this many people should have come here, meaning something summoned them from distant lands. We Begira came here because we sensed a powerful aura. The only possible answer would be that in this castle…"

Masako froze, terrified, knowing what was coming.

"is a powerful bloodthirsty demon, finally awakened from its slumber."

**I know, it's crappy, and I probably won't update this any more this weekend, so I'll add other chapters NEXT weekened. Hope it doesn't bug you guys too much.**

* * *


	8. Day 4, Dreams and Danger

**Haha…ha… **_**runs from pitchfork bearing readers **_**I IS SO SORRY FOR NOT POSTING SOONER! I JUST COULDN'T GET OUT OF MY WRTIER'S BLOCK FROM THIS! **

**Do I know what's gonna happen? Yes.**

**Do I know how it's gonna end? Yes.**

**Is it easy to write how it's gonna happen? No.**

**IT'S WAY MUCH CONFUSING! **_**wheezes**_

**I hope I still have readers…cuz I know that a lot of you've been dropping the story, but I don't blame you, might as well go with a steady writer…but to those of you who read, I'll try to make this chapter AWESOMENESS!**

**I also know the last two chapters were insanely CRAPPY! Please forgive me for them. I just didn't know what to write, but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting, I still can't believe I haven't updated this in over three months…again...I IS WAY MUCH SORRY! **_**hides**_

**And don't worry, this chapter is **_**definitely**_** a major part of the plotline.**

**I do not own Ghost Hunt, nor the short anime film Kakurenbo, which is talked about at the end note, that is created by Shuuhei Morita.**

"Did you get that?" a middle aged man demands, slamming his hand expectantly on the counter table in the dark room.

"Yes, sir, we've recorded everything." his secretary replies, adjusting the glasses falling down his nose, a dull ominous glow reflecting from the lenses, partially lighting up his face.

"Great! With this our viewer numbers will skyrocket!"

"Of course, sir."

The two chatting men were standing in front of a large wall of monitors, watching every scene in every room throughout the castle.

"I still can't believe that no one has ever thought of this type of reality TV before!" the secretary says in awe.

"I know, and I still can't believe that they haven't figured it out. Psychics and ghost hunters from around the continent gathered together to 'exorcise' a historically haunted castle. Little do they know, we've planted video cameras all over the place and electronically control every room's temperature! Not to mention all the extra robotic movement sensors we've hidden to make doors slam shut and ghostly sounds to play!" the man squeals, barely holding in his excitement.

"Yes, sir, a genius plotline indeed! The show is already on the top ten most watched series after only two episodes!" the obedient secretary replies, not even a moment after his boss.

The boss sits down in a large black leather chair, a devious glint apparent in his eyes. "Now, how about we 'shake things up'?"

"I like the way you think, sir."

* * *

Heaven!

I must surely be in heaven!

Before me is the one reason I live…besides my love Naru and my lack of wanting to die…

FOOD!

French cuisines, Chinese delicacies, Italian breads and pastas, hamburgers, fries, hotdogs, apples cider, milkshakes!

IT'S HEAVEN!

I have to say, I thought I was going to be depressed all day because I started getting my period, but that works for me today because I always get so hungry! It couldn't have turned out better!

Bou-san stares at me with a bored expression. "Mai, you're drooling."

"Am I?" My hand goes up to my mouth to rub away any drool.

There was none.

"Hey, you liar!" I growl to the hysterically laughing monk.

"I'm sorry Mai!" he wheezes between gasps, holding him self up by the support of the dining table. "You were just so hypnotized by all the food I had to!"

"Please learn to restrain yourselves at the dinner table." Masako says coldly from her place at the table, across from us, dabbing at her mouth delicately with a white napkin.

"Sorry!" I say, sincerest apology I've ever made.

She sends me a full-of-herself glance before returning to her plate.

"Your group is always so lively, I'm jealous."

We turn toward the voice, which was seated right next to me.

"I-Is that so?" I ask, a bright blush making its way across my face. It's only after I've said it that I hate myself for stuttering. I don't usually stutter! Why did I stutter!

"So." the man says, a pleasantly teasing, but seductive, voice filling my ears.

"Haha…ha, are we always so…so…lively, Bou-san?" I stammer through feigned laughs, while jabbing my elbow into the monk's side.

_Save me, Bou-san, I look like an idiot! Do something!_

"Well, I guess so, but what do you expect when you have such a cute high school girl with us? Um…Mister…?"

"Daniel Mavis."

"Oh, right, sorry."

"That's okay. Has your group had any luck with the exorcisms?" he asks pleasantly, running his hand through his soft luscious red hair.

Soft? Luscious? What's happening to me!? I only feel that way for Naru! Even though he is totally stoic and emotionless…

"Not particularly. How about you? Pick up any good readings, Mr. Ghost Hunter?" Bou-san asks, a noticeable hiss to his voice.

"Not particularly." Daniel Mavis hisses back.

The two continue to stare at each other, slightly competitive, slightly businesslike.

"You're accent…are you American?" I ask for the sake of asking.

"Oh?"

He brings his gentle gaze to me, blinking a few times with his long eyelashes.

Great, I got him and Bou-san apart but now his attention is on me! Crap!

"Um…well…you're accent sounds American…is all."

Yasuhara? Ayako? For God's sake Masako? Anyone? Help me!

"That's very well noticed. Not many people pick up on that little fact. Let's just keep it between you and me? 'Kay?" he brings his pointer finger to his lips to make the "silence" signal, while tilting his head to the side in an adorable way.

"S-Sure thing!" I stutter, again, trying furiously to hide my blush.

I don't get it! Before, when he caught me on the staircase, he was all businesslike and returned me to my group as soon as he saw me blush! Now it's like he's toying with me, trying to MAKE me blush!

I don't understand men!

"Oh…?" he leans in closer and examines my beat red face. "You're really cute, you know that?"

"Ahem!"

We both turn to Bou-san who just cleared his throat in a loud manner.

_Thank you Bou-san! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!_

"Is there a reason you're flirting with our little princess?"

Princess? Me?

"I'm terribly sorry, I had thought you two were brother and sister, I did not realize you liked her."

"That's not-" Bou-san blushes, both from anger and embarrassment.

Daniel Mavis leans in closer toward him, ignoring the awkward position that places me in.

A cunning glint shines in his eyes, and his expression turns dark. "You know, love between siblings…isn't that called incest?"

"Actually Bou-san and I aren't related." I try to say, Daniel's shoulder making me have to lean back uncomfortably.

Of course, I could have let him lean on me, but then his chest would be pressed to mine, and I would most certainly blush greater than before! I don't think my brain cells can take this much longer!

Thankfully, Daniel stops leaning forward, and returns himself to slouching in his chair.

His red bangs hang in front of his deep green eyes, while his hand hangs nonchalantly off the armrest of his chair.

"Really, that's quite unexpected. You two look so much alike it's almost a supernatural phenomenon. Of course I don't know what happened to the monk, but Mai, you are absolutely adorable!" he laughs slightly, giving me the full blast of his beautiful eyes.

That little! Stop staring at me! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

I'm going to faint…

What about Naru? I can't shake this agonizing feeling that I'm being disloyal to him.

"You're a terrible flirt, aren't you?" Bou-san growls toward the man.

At first he's taken back, which he expresses with rapid blinking and slightly sitting up strait. But theses movements are soon drown out be the teasing grin and narcissistic eyes I've grown to recognize in him. "You think so?" he replies playfully, to which, I notice, Bou-san snorts.

"You two are quite the rivals, aren't you?"

That voice, that…that's… Yasuhara!

"Oh, did we disturb you, Shibuya?" I say, trying incredibly hard to hide my relief, which I try to bestow upon him through my eyes.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Yasuhara! You're a life saver! You're…

"Ah? No, you can return to what you were doing, I was just stating the obvious?"

…the devil himself.

"Mai, you okay?"

"Wha-?" I look to see Bou-san staring at me with a thick layer of concern on his face.

"You look rather depressed."

"I-Is that so? No-no I was just…"

I might as well just wear a sing saying _"Insert awkward laugh here."_

Someone here's got to have a marker…

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, you look kind of pale?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Of course I'm pale, I have my period…but no way can I tell him that…

Before I could protest Bou-san has his hand to my forehead.

He whips it back, a look of seriousness on his face. "Mai! You have an incredible fever! You need to go lie down now!" he orders.

"What!? I feel fine!"

Our bickering is interrupted by the incredibly smooth voice of Naru. "Bou-san, is something wrong?"

"No, Naru, I feel fine!"

"Yes, Naru, Mai has a fever, and a high one at that."

"Mai, return to the room and lie down."

"NO! I FEEL FINE!" I nearly scream.

I freeze.

I have this odd sensation that I'm being watched…

I turn around.

Crap.

Everyone that is seated at the table, which is everyone I've met or been introduced to at this castle, is staring at me.

"Um…hi…sorry to interrupt dinner…"

Why do I always end up in these awkward situations?

Was it not enough that I'm a klutz with a stoic boss, and happen to be a supernaturally psychic jackpot? No, obviously not! I had to be a klutz with a stoic boss, and happen to be a supernaturally psychic jackpot AND am always in the center of attention in my most embarrassing moments!

Bou-san rests his hands on my shoulders. "Mai, you really need to lie down. If you over exert yourself with a fever you could pass out or something. We don't have the luxury of calling a doctor out here, so we need to take precautions. Do you understand?"

"Yes I do, but I don't feel sick. I'm not dizzy or anything." I protest.

What is it with him! Yes I may be a little warm…but that's probably because I was blushing so much around Daniel Mavis! He should have realized that!

"Oh for God's sake, just let _me_ take a look." an annoyed voice screeches, shoving herself away from the table.

"Ayako! You really don't! I'm fine!" My protesting wasn't working, so I decided to wave my hands in front of me.

Sure, waving your hands in front of you never really does anything, and I know that, but to me it feels like I'm putting up a wall. And imaginary walls are a lot better than nothing.

Ayako storms her way over to me, sending Bou-san an annoyed glare as she passes him. She was obviously embarrassed as well, even though she wasn't the one under observation. She was, however, part of the group we belonged to, which could be seen just as shameful.

"Now, let's see just how sick you are." she presses her cold hand against my forehead.

"Ayako, you're hands really cold!" I slightly recoil at her touch.

"Mai, Bou-san is right, you _do_ have a really high fever." she announces, with added concern in her voice, just like Bou-san.

"Fine then, so what? Even if I do have a _little_ fever we still need to work, and we need all the hands we can get to cover everything, right? I don't have time to be sick! I'll just suck it up and do my job!"

"That's absurd." Masako snorts, well, you couldn't really call it snorting. She's to proper to snort…though being Masako, that was about the closest thing to snort she would ever voice.

"Is not! It's logic!" I return to her.

Jeez, they all know as well as I how slow we'll move if I'm out of service.

Naru puts his fork down on the table, using this freedom to interlock his fingers. "Lin."

Lin stands up now, respectfully making his way over to where the three of us stood.

Good, Lin will show these two how idiotic it is to send me to bed. Even he knows the logic of keeping me awake and able.

"Mai." he voices in his regular, monotonous tone.

"Yes?" Did I sound to expectant? I bet I did. Oh well.

Lin walks up right next to me, a little too close for my liking, considering he's not a close contact kind of person, and places his hand on my forehead as well.

He shows no emotion, no change in expression, but moves his hand toward my cheek, and then my neck, making sure I was the same temperature everywhere and not just blushing.

"See, I'm not sick! Tell them Lin-san."

I can't help but have a smile on my face. I'm not usually one to like to prove others wrong, but they had it coming…sorta…

I blink. Why wasn't he telling them? "Tell them Lin!"

Next thing I know his hand slips under my knees and the other onto my back…and then…

"Lin! What are you doing!?" I yelp, a furious blush painting my skin as the Chinese man picks me up bridal style.

"Make sure she stays in bed, Lin. Knowing her she'll try something." Naru orders him.

"You can't be serious! This is…this is! John!"

Please John, convince them! This is embarrassing! You know I can handle a little fever! Don't you, John!?

"Forgive me, Mai," My heart sinks. "but Bou-san is right. Since we don't have a doctor out here, it would be for the best if you just went to sleep. You can also collect information that way…remember?" the Australian mumbles.

Lin starts walking toward the staircase, still holding me in that embarrassing way, without even changing his expression.

Does this man even blush? Does he even get scared?

Is he a robot?

That would explain a lot…

Man, I didn't even get to have dinner.

Lin…can't tell that I have my period…right? Thank God I wore shorts today! I would die if I had worn a skirt!

* * *

We're on the stairs now, and it feels awkward with Lin walking up them while holding me. It feels like he's jumping.

"Lin, I can walk you know."

"You have a very high fever, since we are on the stairs it would be much safer if I carried you than if you walked on your own."

"You're underestimating me, Lin."

"You're underestimating your fever."

"I-" I can't think of a comeback for that. What he's saying is completely logical…

I freeze, sweat dripping down my face.

Someone…is watching me…

Do the maids know too? This is so embarrassing.

Why do I always show my klutziness when people are watching…

I bury my face into Lin's shoulder, trying to cover my face from their eyes.

"Are you feeling dizzy?"

Ah! I forgot! Lin's not a touchy person! Crap!

"Um…hahaha…ha…ha…haha… Sorry, I'm just a little…"

There I go again, fake nervous laughter. I really need to break out of that habit.

"We're here."

Even while holding me, Lin manages to open the door to the sleeping room with ease, glides in as though I weighed the same as a feather, and closes the door once again.

"I have a few pills in my suitcase that would help bring down your fever, but sleep will help you the most." he informs as he carries me to one of the eight beds in the room. "I'll stay here in case something were to happen." He bends to lay me down gently on the bed, causing him to lean in over me, insanely close, rips the covers open, lays me on the mattress, brings the blankets over me, then pulls away.

"You mean there might be spirits?" I ask, still slightly blushing at the close contact we had.

I know Lin would never do anything and all, but it's just uncomfortable, not to mention I'm self conscious because it's _that time of the month_… I feel so embarrassed about blushing!

"Though there may be spirits, I'm more concerned about the side affects of your fever. It is possible that you could seizure, as well as hallucinate. I have an ice pack prepared, please keep it on your forehead." he instructs, placing the freezing object onto my feverish forehead.

"That's cold!"

He leaves me, momentarily, returning only a minute later with a glass of water and a palm containing two pills.

I take them, knowing they'll bring down my fever, as well as the glass of water. Plopping the two small things into my mouth I chug down the water faster than I usually wouldd. Lin takes the glass and refills it in the other room, returning once again, only to leave the water on the nightstand next to my bed. "For later" he tells me.

The stoic man gives me one last look, before walking over toward the desk located at the other end of the room, sits down in the leather chair in front of it, and begins typing away on the computer located there.

"Sorry about this, Lin-san."

Following the orders given to me, I close my eyes, soon finding sleep drowning me…

* * *

"_Mother?"_

_Who?_

"_Mother?"_

_I open my eyes slightly._

_Gray? Everything is…gray…_

_I'm fully awake now, forcing my torso up with my elbows._

"_Mother?"_

_Where is that voice coming from? Why is it crying?_

_I look around frantically, searching for its source._

"_Where are you…Mother?"_

_I gasp._

_Before me is a crying transparent child, consisting of the colors gray, black, and white._

_Am I watching a movie screen?_

"_Mother? Where are you? Brother…he…he…"_

"_Is something wrong?" I call to the poor kid._

_He doesn't seem to notice me, his clenched hand trying to wipe away his falling tears._

"_Why…Why…?" he hiccups from crying, "Why did you…brother?"_

"_Are you hurt?" I beg. "What's wrong?"_

"_Mother?"_

_What's going on! Usually in these dreams I can talk to the spirits or at least Naru…so why…_

_Is this like the case from Ayumi? Am I seeing the past?_

"_Mother? Where are you? Mother!?"_

_How sad. Looking for his mother…all this time…_

_I walk closer to the child and a strange feeling comes over me._

_A boy, this child is a boy, around five or six. He's in black and white…yet I can't shake the feeling that he has golden hair…_

_Why is that?_

_His hand retreats from his crying eyes and he screams out to the darkness._

"_Where are you, Mother!? Don't leave me all alone!"_

_Honey…eyes…_

_This kid…I've seen him before…_

_Just who…?_

"_What's your name? Please tell me! I want to help you!" I beg again, placing my hand on his expensively clothed shoulder._

_He cringes under my touch, moving his fearful face slowly to look at me._

_His eyes widen in absolute terror. _

_His form shakes beneath my hand. _

_His breathing becomes scarce._

_His lips mouth a single word._

"_Run!"_

* * *

My eyes groggily start to open.

I hate waking up.

Whenever I do my nose burns and my eyes burn, all thanks to a source of light…

Guess there's no avoiding it though.

I open my eyes a little more.

Black?

That's strange…it can't be that late already…

Where's Lin-san?

My eyes start coming into focus.

I black blob is right above my bed, floating around the ceiling.

Is it a spider?

Ah! I hate spiders!

As I look closer the form starts to shift and change, a white spot in the dead center of it all.

Is it floating in water?

That doesn't make sense.

I try to focus on the white dot in the center of the black mass.

It's oval shaped…I think… and there's indents in it and…

There's cheekbones, and a nose, and deep sockets for eyes…two demonic horns…

…and a screaming mouth…

A mask.

What is a mask doing…

A low grumble shakes me to my core, burning my skin with fear, as the sound becomes deeper, and more haunting, covered by a small child's voice. _"A child's mother is draped in crimson. A child's father is only bones."_

It…it's talking!?

"_One is a lie. Which one"_

"One is a lie?"

"_One releases a demon, two releases death. Which will you choose?"_

"Wh-What if I say I choose neither…?"

The masks features turn angry, the mouth extending, releasing a large stream of fire.

"_Then I will eat you!"_

"St-Stay away!"

The mask and black sweep down to me, its cold, terrifying face only inches away from my own.

A bead of sweat escapes down my throat.

"_Which do you choose?"_

I-I'm scared.

Someone…save me…

Lin-san…

You're there right?

Lin-san…

…help me…

The _thing_ suddenly disappears.

I look around quickly, making sure it is indeed gone.

Did you do that Lin-san?

My chest is rising and falling at an incredible pace as I hyperventilate from the sudden relief.

I feel clammy all over, and I'm covered in sweat.

I hope Lin allows me to take a shower…

_Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong._

A clock chime?

I hear a faint _click_, and a small tinkling music starts to fill the room.

I didn't know there was a musical clock in this room…

"_Father wants his arms back, mother wants her blood back."_

Who's singing…it's such a creepy voice… It sounds like a little girl…

"_Which are you going to choose? Which one? Which one?"_

My eyes widen.

NO!

Shut up!

"_Their little boy was crying. Help me! Help me!"_

I try to go under the covers.

Wha-

I can't…move…

"_I don't want to die…Save me! Save me!"_

The voice…it's coming closer…

"_We have to save the child. Help us! Help us!_

NO!

The voice is closer still, and I can hear the carpet being pressed down as the invisible figure gets closer.

"_Come now, come and die with me!"_

I don't want this…I don't want.

Movement.

My eyes wander against my will to see the singing thing…

A mask…a different mask.

Is it…happy?

Yes, the figure is a little kimonoed girl wearing a happy mask, and in her hand is…

"Die now."

She brings the gleaming knife down toward my paralyzed body.

No…stop…please…

With the last of my strength, and the last of my breath, I open my mouth and push all of the terrors away…

...letting out the loudest scream I've ever made.

* * *

**Once again, I have a stupid pitiful excuse of a cliff hanger.**

**When you think of the voice for the masked black "blob" think of the voice for the demon at the end of Kakurenbo, that is EXACTLY how I wish for readers to think of the mask's voice.**

**So sorry it took so long for me to update this, I'm going to update this again soon, promise!**

**I would have updated this earlier today, but we had a tornado warning, so I had to get off the computer.**

**Hope that you readers, who are still reading, enjoyed this.**

**I might have made Mai way out of character, but it's been a while since I've written from her point of view…three months… So it might just take a while for me to get me "oomph" back.**

**Read and Review please! I really want to hear your comments, complaints…etc. They really help me write more often.**


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